Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-12-30

many people who have emp'oycd this irs.i-
| tuition there is a vast nuEtber who are ignor-
ant of its excellences. There ara men with
! cramped chests and weak sides and despoad-
dent spirits who through the gymnasium
might be reused up to ezuherancs and exhil-
aratlon OF life. There are many Christian
| people respondent from year 10 year who
might through such an institution he bene-
tted In their spiritual relations. There are
Christian people who seem to think that It is
gooi sign to be poorly. and because Richard
! Baxter and Robert Hall were invalds they
think that by the same sickliness they nay
come 0 the same grandeur of character. !
| want to tell the Christian people of my con-
! Gregation that God will hold You responsible
Tor your ihValidism.i if it is your fault and
when through right exercise and prudence
| you might be athletic and well. The effect
OF the body upon the soul you acknowledge.
| Put man of mild disposition upon the ami
| NAL diet Of which the Indian partakes and in
/ little while bis blood will change its chemi-
| cal proportions II wll become like unto
/ the blood Of the lion or the tiger or the bear,
while his disposition viii change and become
tierce cruel and uureles iu', The body bss
powerful effect upo,sltie syul.
There are good people whose ideas of
Heaven are ali shut out with clouds of tobac-
co smoke, There are people who dare to
| Shatter the physical vase in which God hcs
put tie jewel of eternity, There are men
with great hearts and in'ellects in todies worn
out by their own neglects--magnifcent ma
chlnery, capable of propelling an Etrura
across the Atlantic, yet fastened in a rick
ETY. North river propeller, Martin Luther
was so mighty for God, first, because he had
a noble soul, and secondly, because he had a
MUSCULAR development which wotld have
enabled him to thrash any five Of his
prosecutors, If it had been Christian so to do.
Hhyslcal development which merely shows
itself in fabulous lifting, or in perilcus rope
| walking, or in pugilistic encounter, exctes
only our contempt but we confess to great
admiration for the man who has a great
soul in an athletic body, every nerve, muscle
and bone of which is consecratcl to right
Uses. Oh, 1t seems to mo outrageous that
men, through neglect, shonld allow their
physical health to go down beyond repair. A
ship which ought with all sail set and every
man at his post to be carrying a rich cargo
Tor eternity employing all its men in stopping
up leakageSl When you may through the
! gymnasium, work OF your spleen and your
querusousness and ona-half of your physical
ana mental ailments, do not turn your back
upon such a grand meiicament.
Still further: | commend to you a large
I class of parlor games and recrea ions. Thers
| Is a way of making our homes hundred
! fold more attractive than they are now.
| Those parents cannot expect to keep their
| children away from outside diSsipations un-
| less they make the domestic circle brighter
than anything they can fin1 outside of it. Do
not, then, sit in your home surly and unsym-
pathetic, and with a half condempatory look.
because of the sportfulnes3 of your children,
| You were young once yourself: let your chill
dren be young. Because your eyes are dim
ana your ankles are stiff do not denounce
! sportfulnesS in those upon whose eye there is
the first lustre, and in whose foot there is
the bounding joy of robust health. thank
! God that in our drawing-roomS and in our
| par,orS there are innumerable games and
sports which have not upon them the least
talnt of lniquity. Light up all your homes
with innocent hilarities. Do not sit down
with the rheumatism, wondering how
children can go on 50. Rather thank God
! that their hearts are so LIGHT and their
| laughter is so free, and that their cheeks ara
so ruddy and that their expectations are so
radiant. The night will come soon enough,
and the heartbreak, and The pang. and the
desolatlon-lt will come soon enough for the
dear children. But when the storm actually
clouds the sky it will be time enough for
| you to haul out your reef tackles Garry
then, into your homes not only the innocent
| sports and games which are the inventions of
our own day, but the games which como
down with the sportfulres5 of all the past
ages-chess and charades, and tableaux and
battledore, and calisthenics, and lawn tennis
and all those amuSementS which the young
people of our homes know so well how to
contrive. Then there will Ee the parlor soci-
| ailtles-groupS Of people assembled in your
| homes, with wit and mimicry and iovjaI,ty.
filling the room with joy from the door to
the mantel and from the carpet to the cell
ing. Oh! is there any exhilaration like
score of genial sou in one room, each one
adding contribution of his own iniiyiduaI
merriment to tho aggregation of general
hilarity?
Suppose you want TO go abroad in the city,
then you will find the panorama and the art
gallery and exquisite collections of pictures
You will find the Metropolitan Museum and
the Historical Society rooms full of rare curl
osities, and scores of places which can stand
plainly the test of what is right and wrong in
amusements. You will find the lecturing
hall, which has been honored by the names
of Agassiz in natural history, Doremus in
chemistry, Boynton in geology, Mitchell in
astronomy, John B. Cough in neral reform,
and scores and hundreds of men who have
poured their wit and genius and ingenuity
through that particular channel upon the
| hearts and conSClenceS and imaginationS of
men, setting this country fifty years farther
in advance than it would have been without
the lecture plat Jrm.
rejoice in the popularizaton of outdoor
sports l hail the croquet ground and the
fisherman's rod and the sportsman's gun. In
our cities life is so unhealthy and unnatural
that when the census taker represents city
as having 800, ,O0J inhabitants, there are only
100000, since it takes at least two men to
amount to one man, so depicting and unnerv-
ing and exhausting is this metropolitan life
We want more fresh air more sunlight, more
of the abandon of field sports cry out for
it in behalf of the church of God as well as in
behalf of secular interests. ! wish that this
| winter our ponds and our rivers and our
Capitoline grounds might be all awake with
the heel and the shout of the swift skater. [
wish that when the warm weather comes the
graceful oar might dip the stream and
the evening tids be resonant with
boatman's song, the bright prov
splitting the crystalline billow. We
shall have the smooth and grassy lawn, and
we will call out people of all occupations and
professions, and ask them to join in the ball
players sport. You will come back from
these outdoor exercises and recreatons with
| strength in your arm, and color in your
cheek, and flash in your eye, and courage
in your heart. In this great battle that is
opening against the Kingdom Of darkness We
want not only a conSeCrated soul, but q
strong arm and stout lungs and a mighty
muscle. l bless God that there are so many
recreations that have not on them any taint
| of iniuuity; recreatious in which we may
engage for the strengthening of the body,
for the clearing of the intellect, for the ilIu-
mination of the soul.
There is still another form of recreation
which commend to you and that is the
pleasure of doing good. have seen young
men weak and cross and sour and repelling
in their disposition, who, by one heavenly
touch, have waIened up and become blessed
and buoyant, the ground under their feet and
the sky over their heads breaking forth into
music. "Oh,n says some young man in the
house to-day, 81 should like that recreation
above all others, but | have not the means. v
| : a